Internal-combustion engine.



\ N. M. I A FORTE. INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE. APPLICATION FILED .IUNE 29. I917- Patented Sept. 3, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I- N, M. LA FORTE.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 29. I917.

3 $HEETS-SHEET 2- v NEG 151171 Patented Sept. 3, 1918.

N. M. LA PORTE. INTERNAL COMBUSTION. ENGINE. APPLICATION FILE!) 1UN'E29. 1917.

. LQ'TZfiQG. PatentedSept. 3,1918,

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Elli

NORBEBI M. LA PGRTE, OF BALTETJIORE, MARYLAND.

INTERNAL-COMBUSTZOH ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Iatcnt.

Patented; Sept. 3, 1918.

Application filed June 29, 1917. Serial Ito. 177,631.

T 0 all whom; it may concern .1

lie it known that l. Nonmurr M. iii Pon'rn, a citizen of the lifllltil States of Amcrir'ra. res sing in the city of Baltimore,State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful lm 'n'ovements in Internal-Comhus lion Engines of which the followingis a. specification.

All internal crunbustion engines are provided with. or operate in connection with. a system for distributing oil. to the cylinders and engine hearings. In some, the cylinder oil mixed with the fuel; in others it is fed by means of a pump through suitable channels or passages to the surfaces to be lubricated; and in still others, the oil placed in the crankcase and each crank a" the lowest point of its stroke dips into a pool or pocket of oil splashing; the oil up on to the. connecting rod and pistonso that oil is supplied to the, bearings and cyliuderwalls at each stroke. The two latter are known as the "force feed and splash systems respec tively. in the latter system the oil pockets into which the cranks dip are generally so arranged that the oil flows backward from one to the other and some means is provided for feeding oil to the front pocket or to the timer gears from which it 'tlows to the front pocket These circulating systems with their arious reservoirs and passages are referred to herein as ducts or passages holding the lubricant and lading it in contact with the surfaces to he lubricated.

ln some well-known types of i'not'or cars,

there is a tunnel or cup in the vicinity of the lly wheel which catches a portion 0;? the oil l-hrowu up from the fly Wheel and a tube running from the bottom or the cup down: ward and forward to the timer gears or forward oil pocket. At. norn'ial speeds, a considerahle amount of oil is circulated in this way being thrown uphy the fly wheel caughtin the cup. carried :torward by the inclined tube and distrihuteiil by the spash or flowing backward through a. series of peck-- ets until it comes again into the pit; or in; in the vicinity of the fly wheel, but. higher engine speeds. particulariy where the high speed is maintained as in continuous ition of tractors or trucks wl we the gear ratio is very low, the ccntriingal impulse im- PilllXl-(l by Lhe fly wheel to the oil so great by means of that it is thrown clear of the cup, greatly reducing the oil circulation. T nder these circnmstmices. the cylinders and timer gears do not get. sullicient oil and-arc soon injured requiring ,rcqueut repair and replacement.

The device of my invention as shown in the present. appli ntion may be usedto supplement other systems for supplying cylinder oil and the like to the bearings and cylinders of an internal combustion motor to increase; the oil circulation. to overcome the di'lhcully described, or for any other purpose. or it may be employed i as the sole means for circulating the lubricant.

To this end. I provide a small reservoir located at or near the bottom oi the system or so that the oil lion's or drips into the reservoir, preferably 0y gravity. Fronr'this reservoir, a pipe leads to the point or points of luhrication. I also lead to this chamber a portion ot' the exhaust which furnishes the circulating impulse or energy. I find it most convenient to make the oil reservoir and pipes leading to and from it in the term of an injector as hereinafter described.

in the accompanying drawings l have illustrated several slightly ditl'erenl terms of apparatus embodying my invent ion. the dif- 'erent forms being selected to illustrate the preferred manner of applying the invention endently under slightly ditil renti circumstances rather than with any view to ,-'.-ho\vin; the scope of the invention which is lwlievedtwbe much broader than the range of apparatus illustrated.

in these drawings. Figure 1 is an elevation of an internal combustion engine showing one method of applying my invention;

2 is a similar view of practically the same system applied with a sight feed mounted on the dash or instrument boa-rd;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal centralsection slur-ring the inject-or member and reservoir which the energyef a portion of the exhaust s imparted to the lubricant to up and maintain the circulation;

an elevation of an engine or i'notor to which my lubricating system has hecn applied, the oil reservoir or injector eeing difierently located and the system besupplied with a gravity reservoir and ti o top of the system;

the lower part of the crank case fragmentarily shown to illustrate the manner of applying the injector element;

Fig. 6 is a section showing the gravity reservoir, sight feed and vent; and

Fig. 7 is a vertical central section of the gas pipe connection to the manifold with check valve and adjustment.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, I have shown my invention in each instance applied to an internal combustion engine which is installed as the power plant of an :automobile or other self-propelled vehicle.

In each instance the crank case 1 is provided with four oil pockets 2, 3, stand 5 and a fly wheel chamber 6, the arrangement being that usually adopted with the splash system.

In Fig. l I hae shown an oil reservoir and injector 7 directly beneath the fly wheel chamber. This injector is connected to the bottom of the fly wheel chamber or casing 6 by a screw connection 8, to the timer gear casing 9 by a tube 10 and to the exhaust manifold by a tube 11.

Referring now to Fig. 3, the tubes 10 and 11 are in alinement and in. the form of the invention shown, the tube 11 terminates in a nozzle 12 directed into the center of a conical portion 13 of the reservoir 7 which is concentric with and forms an extension of the, pipe 10, the construction shown being quite similar to various types of injectors?- However, the injector principle is not essential to the broadest conception of hy invention which contemplates the uti ization of the exhaust in any manner, to circulate the lubricant.

It being understood that the crank case normally contains oil to a considerable depth, the operation of the invention may be easily understood. The oilv flows into the injector chamber or reservoir 7, preferably by gravity, and when the engine is running, it is forced through the pipe 10 impelled by the portion of the exhaust which enters the chamber through the pipe 11 and the nozzle 12, the gas and lubricant being broken into successive bodies which pass through the pipe like pistons one after the other providing a regular supplv of liquid by a force feed and "without loss of energy as the utilization of the exhaust in this Way cannot in any degree reduce the power of the engine.

In fact, to a slight degree, in theory at least,

it helps to reduce the'back pressure.

In' Fig. 2 ,I have shown the system sub ,stantially the same as in Fig. 1 except that in place of the oil pipe 10 leading from the injector to the timer gears, I have showna pipe 15 leading directly upward to and through the dash or instrument board 16 to a. sight glass 17 through which the oil passes to a pipe 18 leading to the timer gear case 9 or to any point in the system to which it is found expedient todeliver the cylinder oil whence it is to How or to be distributed to the parts which it is desired to lubricate by means of the ducts 01 passages provided.

In Fig. 4 I have shown the injector or oil reservoir 7 applied to the fly wheel chamber or casing on the rear side by means of a suitable connection 19 substituted for the lower pet cock 20 shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The reservoir 7 is connected to the exhaust manifold 21 by a-tube 11 corresponding to the tube 11 in Figs. 1 and 2 terminating in a. nozzle 12 as shown in Fig. 3. In fact, the entire injector, except for the position in which it is connected, may be the same that illustrated in Fig. 3.x; For the oil delivery pipes shown in th'e previous figures, I have substituted an oil pipe 22 which extends upward from the injector to a gravity reservoir 23 on the front side of the instrument board. This chamber, shown in detail in Fig. 6, may be provided with a suitable strainer 24 and a vent 25 which is used when the crank case is so tight that it becomes necessary to provide for the escape of the small amount of gas used to propel the oil. In addition to the gravity chamber 23, I have shown a sight glass 17 which may of course be usedwith or without the v gravity chamber. The oil pipe 30 from the botton'rof the gravity chamber or cup 23 leads to the top of the sight glass 17 and the oil pipe 25 leads from the bottom of the sight glass to the timer gear case 26 or other suitable point of delivery for the oil.

In Figs. 7 and 4 I have shown an improved fitting 35 connecting the gas pipe 11 to the exhaust manifold. In the preferred embodiment of my invention, this is used inand forces the conical end 37 of the-nipple into the cupped end of the pipe, and second, a lower sectipn 43. The nipple is chambered at 41 and intermittently threaded to engage the internal thread of the lower sec-- tion. This lower sectionhas a valve seat 44 for a ball valve 45 in the chamber 41 to serve as a check to' prevent back-flow or siphoning of the oil in case backward flow is started by any means. It will be noted in this connection that the gaspipe extends above the oil level and this arrangement is ordinarily suificient to prevent back-flow of the oil into the manifold.

In addition to the ball valve 45, the fitting includes a. means 4:6 shown in the form of a'screw, for adjusting and reducing the cross-section of the gas passage 48. The adjustment of the passage by the means 46 is to determine the amount of'exhaust utilized in propelling the lubricant and hence the velocity of Circulation. This fitting,

while it is described in connection With an exhaust actuated lubricating system may be applied to any device used in connection with an internal combustion engine -in which the exhaust is used as an actuating the gravity chamber flows by gravity downto the timer case or other point of delivery to the lubricating ducts or passages instead of being carried by the exhaust directly from the reservoir or injector 7 to the timer case to the point of delivery.

YVhile the invention has been illustrated in connection with a splash system, it is obvious that it may be utilized with any internal combustion engine having means for retaining a supply of lubricating oil in contact with the surfacesto be lubricated so that it is available atone point of the system to be carried by the exhaust to another point so as to maintain the circulation in contact with the surfaces to be lubricated as described.

I have thus described my invention specifically and in detail in order that its nature and operation may be fully understood; however, the specific terms herein are used descriptively rather than in their limiting sense'and the scope of the invention is defined in the claims:

1. ln combination with an internal combnstion engine, aduct or passage for holding the. oil in contact with the surfaces to be lubricated. means at one end of said duct for receiving oil from said duct, and exhaust actuated means for delivering the oil to the duct near theopposlte end of said duct and causing it to circulate continuously during the operation of the engine in contact with the surfaces to be lubricated.

2. In an internal combustion engine in combination, ducts or passages for the circulation of lubricant in contact with the surfaces to be lubricated, an injector for receiving lubricant from said passages near c-nc end of said passages, means for leading a portion of the exhaust gases to the injcclor utilizing the same as the means for actuating the injector, and means for lead- 'ing the oil from the injector and delivering it near the end of said passages, causing the oil to circulate in'eontact with the surfaces to be lubricated, the oil pipe leading from the injector including a vent for the air and gas.

3. In an internal combustion engine in combination, a duct or passage for the ciru 'culation of lubricant in contact with the surfaces to be lubricated, an injectorforreeeiving lubricant from said passage. means for leading a. portion of the exhaust to the in .cnlation of lubricant in contact with the surfaces to be lubricated, an injector for receiving lubricant from said passage near one end of said passage, means for leading a portion of the exhaust gases to the injector utilizing the same as the means for actuating the injector and delivering the lubricant near the other end of said. passage causing the lubricant to circulate in Contact with the surfaces to be lubricated, the oil pipe including a gravity reservoir with a vent above the oil level.

5. In an internal combustion engine in combination, a splash lubricating system, an injector connected to a low point in the system to receive oil therefrom, means for con- 1 ducting the exhaust to the injector to actuate the same, and means for conducting the oil from the injector propelled thereby .to a point. in the system from which it will NORBER-T Bl. LA FORTE.

\Vitnesses:

H. G. EATON, B. A. WAssEaMAn 

